


A Day Like Any Other

by blythechild



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drabble, Drinking & Talking, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-15
Updated: 2012-05-15
Packaged: 2017-11-05 10:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/405494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blythechild/pseuds/blythechild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A profiler walks into a bar...</p><p>Hotch runs into Reid who is drinking himself into denial.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day Like Any Other

**Author's Note:**

> This was a prompt fill for a comment fic community on livejournal. The theme was denial, and the prompt phrase was "that case was no worse than any other".

This case was no worse than any other.

The victims weren't any more familiar to him.

The killer's motivations didn't make less sense.

He didn't resemble this UnSub in any fashion.

This one wasn't going to come back in the night and whisper in his ear. It wasn't going to suggest "you would've done it differently - you'd never have been caught"...

And he certainly wasn't drinking to drown out anything. Preposterous. Everyone was always telling him to loosen up...

"Didn't expect to see you here." A large hand lands firmly on his shoulder. "Everything all right?"

He turns and the world not only rotates but nutates as well. His hand steadies himself against the bar and he smiles, not at the speaker, but at the thought of being mathematically out of control.

"I stopped to have a sherry. Long day."

The man standing over him in the annoyingly impeccable suit looks at him and slowly raises an eyebrow. He leans forward and sniffs the contents of the glass left half-finished on the bar.

"Reid, this is bourbon."

His eyes whip back to the glass and its mendacious liquid as if he's been lied to by a friend.

"Fascinating." He says.

Impeccable Suit waits for something more, but he's not giving him anything - not after his trusted drink of choice just deceived him. No way. He's locking his mind up tightly. Nothing's getting out and none of them are getting in. He's completely in control.

_Completely._

Impeccable Suit reaches for the glass and drains what's left in one swallow. Now, he's waiting for Suit's lecture. Screw him and his paternalism - he's a man and doesn't need to be coddled any more...

"I don't want to hear it, Hotch... whatever you're going to say."

Impeccable Suit sits down on the stool next to him and waves over the bartender.

"Two more like this." He says in a blemish-free tone that matches his suit. "On second thought, leave the bottle."

He pours and they both drink without toasting, without saying a word. He refills the glasses and then lays a hand on Reid's arm and squeezes it for a long moment.

"This one scared the shit out of me." He says quietly, staring straight ahead.

Reid reaches for the bottle. "It didn't scare me at all. I think that's worse."


End file.
